Flirting With Death Part 2
by Skrain Dukat
Summary: Chapter 2 is now up. What is going on with Lindsey Willows and Gilbert Grissom? Author's Note: Next chapter will begin a crossover. If you know me on DevArt, you know the crossover. If not, it is a surprise! :D Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

The group crowded around the window to the hospital room Grissom had been moved to after being brought in by ambulance. A team of doctors and nurses rushed around the room, injecting him with various things, hooking him up to various machines and an iv drip, taking his temperature, and applying heating pads to various areas of his body. Grissom lied there, unresponsive. Greg, Nick, and Sara stared in at him, while Jim Brass leaned against the wall and dialed Catherine Willows' cell phone number for the fifth time. Neither she nor Warrick were anywhere to be found.

"Yeah, Cath," he muttered into the receiver after Cath's familiar voicemail message chimed away, "It's Jim. Good news and bad news. We found him, but it's not looking good. Listen, could you do me a favor and tell Warrick if you see him?" he sighed, holding his forehead with his free hand as he glanced through the window at his unconscious friend, "Get here as soon as you can, could you? I don't know how much longer he's got." He snapped his cell phone shut and walked over to Sara, who was pressed so tightly against the window that she was nearly in the room with Grissom, and placed his hand on her shoulder.

She jumped, looking back at him. It was noticeable that she was trying hard not to lose it. "How you holding up?" he asked, knowing the answer before the first word escaped his lips. Sara wordlessly turned around and hugged Jim tightly. Shocked, he hugged her back, holding her until she was ready to let go.

While she held onto Brass, Sara whispered, "He's not going to make it and its my fault."

"No, no it's not your fault, Sara," Jim replied softly.

"Yes it is, if I would've been here he wouldn't have ever gotten abducted, I would've protected him, I-" tears welled up in her eyes.

One of the doctors walked briskly out of the room and over to the group. He looked down at a chart he was holding and said, "Sara Sidle?"

Sara pulled away from Jim and replied, shakily, "Tha-That's me." The doctor walked over closer to her and shook her hand with a grim look on his face.

"Could I speak to you a little more privately, please?"

"They deserve to hear whatever you have to say, too."

The doctor shook his head, "Dr. Grissom's records have you and a... Greg Sanders as his next of kin."  
Greg's eyes widened and he stepped closer to Sara, "I'm Greg Sanders."

The doctor shook his hand, "Could you two step into my office, please?" He motioned to a door just down the hall. They nodded, and the three of them walked down to the other room. The doctor ushered them in and closed the door.

"I'm Dr. Howard, sorry for the secrecy, however, I must protect Dr. Grissom's privacy-"

"As he's laying in there, dying?!" Greg blurted, angrily. Sara grabbed his arm.

"That's the thing, he's not dying, as far as we can tell." Sara's eyes lit up with hope. "Something is obviously wrong with him, but initially, we have no idea what. His temperature keeps fluctuating between 28 and 33 degrees Celcius, none of which is good, his blood pressure is falling rapidly, but his pulse seems to be getting stronger. We don't understand it. You're sure he came from the desert?"

Sara looked at Greg, who nodded. "We found him in this underground cavern out in the desert."

"Well, as far as we can tell, he's suffering from hypothermia, but with his pulse gaining strength but no change in his blood pressure, we're not sure what's going on. Unless we get some answers from his bloodwork, we have absolutely no idea how to treat him."

"But he's not dying?" Sara asked in disbelief.

"As far as we can tell, no."

"But you can't treat him?"

"We've got heating pads on him to try to bring his temperature within the normal range, we've got him on an iv drip to try and re-hydrate him, as he seems to be severely dehydrated, and we've given him a little bit of adrenaline to attempt to get his heart rate back up where it should be."

"Can we see him?" Greg asked, frowning. He didn't like not knowing what was wrong.

Dr. Howard sighed, "I don't see the harm, but I think we should limit it to one person at a time. If he wakes up, do not press him to talk. He needs to rest."

"Thank you, Doctor," Sara said, bolting out of the room. Nick saw her and perked up, but she rushed right past him and into the room Grissom was in. Kneeling by his side, she looked up at him, gently placing her hand on his cheek. "Gil," she whispered, "Gil, I'm back..."

She didn't expect any sort of response, nor did she get any. She sighed. 'At least he's alive,' she thought, searching his face for any chang of expression. "I'll be here at the hospital until you're better. I promise. I'm not leaving again." she kissed his hand, then added, "I love you."

Sara stayed there, motionless, watching him breathe, for a good ten minutes before standing and walking out of the room. Greg went in to visit next.

"Hey, Grissom," Greg said in his usual way, almost as though he just had some lab results to hand him, "so, guess what, we found you." Greg's tone was lighthearted throughout the conversation he proceeded to have with his unresponsive boss. Jim and Sara watched it through the window while Nick attempted to call Warrick.

"C'mon, pick up, pick up-" Nick muttered, before hanging up the phone. "No answer still. I wonder where they-" he stopped upon seeing Catherine turn the corner into the hallway they occupied. With her was Warrick, and what appeared to be a very sick Lindsey. Nick jogged down to meet them halfway. "Where've you guys been, we've been trying to get ahold of you, we have Griss-"

"Who are you?" Lindsey asked Nick.  
Before Nick could answer, Warrick intervened, "She's been asking that of everyone she sees since she woke up. The best answer we have for it is that she was injected with something to make her forget seeing whoever abducted her."

Catherine stepped forward and hugged Nick. "Is Grissom alright?" she whispered. Nick shrugged.

"As far as the doctors have told us, he's stable. But he won't respond to anything."

Warrick and Catherine exchanged knowing glances. Catherine sighed.

"That's how Lindsey was when I left her to meet up with Warrick. When we came back-" before Catherine could finish, Greg came running out of the hospital room, shouting.

"HE'S AWAKE! HE'S AWAKE! GRISSOM WOKE UP!"


	2. Chapter 2

Nick, Warrick, and Catherine bolted down the hallway to Grissom's room, where they saw that Greg was telling the truth, Grissom had woken up and was sitting bolt upright. He was pale and covered in sweat.

"Gil?" Sara exclaimed, running into the room. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, "Oh Gil, oh, thank God you're alive."

Grissom looked at her, confused. "Who are you?" Warrick shook his head. "What am I doing in a hospital?"

"Gil..." Sara muttered, shocked, "don't you know what happened to you?"

Grissom cocked his head, confused. "Who's Gil? I think you have the wrong person, ma'am." Sara stared at him in shock.

"Sara, can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?" Nick asked, grabbing her arm. She started to protest, but when she saw Nick's expression, she complied. He led her out into the hallway and into a vacant doorway.

"What's going on, Nick?" Sara asked, her tone serious. She stared him down with an intense gaze.

"Whatever's going on with Gil is affecting Lindsey, too. When Lindsey woke up she didn't recognize anyone. The tox report we've sent out hasn't come back on either of them, yet. It could just be a harmless case of amnesia- could be, being the main words," Nick explained.

"What are you saying?" Sara asked in disbelief.

"The alternative is that, somehow, somebody has managed to thoroughly wipe their memories. In which case, we might never see the Griss we knew again."

"This can't be happening," Sara turned pale, "I'm going to be sick. How could anyone do this?"

"The lab is working double time to figure this all out," Nick replied, putting his hands on her shoulders in a comforting manner.

"LINDSEY!" a horrible shriek stung their ears. Sara and Nick both bolted out of the doorway and gawked at Catherine, who was on her knees, cradling Lindsey, who was convulsing on the ground. "SOMEBODY GET A DOCTOR!"


End file.
